Sunday, May 2, 2010

Serenity and I planted flowers, a tree, and some "Magic Beans" today. Serenity really did most of it, I was just on hand to take pictures and help her pour the the water.

First we started with the Magic Beans from the Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure by GWMG. We planted them in the Jiffy Greenhouse. It was very easy - just add warm water to expand the soil pods, widen the opening on the netting around the the top of the soil pods, and planted two Magic Beans per pod. Then you place the dome cover on it and place in a warm spot out of the sun until the seeds sprout. So simple!

You can share the growth of your Magic Beans with other GWMG fans on Facebook too. Kim is wonderful and I love seeing pictures of all the kids' progress!

The Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure kit is great. The growth chart that comes with the kit is so beautiful. The whimsical artwork was created especially for the Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure theme by Emily Marino. Kim always has the best ideas to interest your child in growing things and it's a fun way to spend quality time with them too!

Next up was a Blue Spruce tree from Earth Friends. I bought Serenity's new rag doll, Malia from them and she came with her very own backpack fill with a soil pod and Blue Spruce seeds.

Have you seen these beautiful earth-friendly handcrafted rag dolls? They are made from eco-friendly recycled and natural materials. Their hair is made from thick cotton, their skin is hemp, their clothes are organic cotton and recycled cotton blends, and their stuffing is recycled plastic containers. And they are very cuddly too! All nine of their dolls has a little and big version - Serenity has the bigger Malia, she's so pretty. Go check out their FB Earth Friends Fan page too!

We put the soil pod in a bowl, filled it with warm water and waited about 15 minutes for it to expand. Then we transferred the pod to a little plate (Serenity used her Green Toys saucer), and she planted three Blue Spruce seeds. Very easy, fun and a great project for a preschooler.

The Gardening kit comes with a trowel, three pots and a tray, three soil pods, and some organic seeds. We didn't plant those today. Serenity wanted to plant flowers instead so I let her pick some out at Wal-Mart yesterday.

Just like the other two projects, we poured warm water over the soil pods and waited for them to expand. It took about 20 minutes. Then Serenity planted flower seeds in each pot.

These are so easy and fun for your preschooler or child of any age. Serenity felt a huge sense of accomplishment planting her seeds almost all by herself. I helped a little with the water and fluffing up the soil, but she basically did it all herself.

I'm not much of a gardener - I tend to ignore whatever I plant, but Serenity really loves it. I'm thinking about setting up a small area so she can plant more flowers and plants. I believe she would really enjoy have her own "garden"!

3 comments:

We have been planting little seedlings with my 4 yr old. she loves it. Even though it has been hard word for me. I now have tons of plants growing out of my ears :) I even have been updating my blog on the progress :)

Who Am I?

I'm a stay-at-home crafting Mommy. My beautiful daughter Serenity is my Muse and Model for most of what I do on my blog. I love learning how to create new stuff, sew, embroidery, taking (and learning to Photoshop) pictures, doing kid's product reviews, and finding interesting things on the internet other people blog about, create, sell or do all three!

All of my tutorials are for your personal use only!
If you use any of my tutorials, I would appreciate a link back to either my blog or the tutorial please!
Some of my tutorials are pretty simple and can be found elsewhere online, but some of them are my original ideas and techniques.
I have no problem sharing how I did something, but I think it's only fair that I be given full credit for it considering the time and effort it took me to put together a picture tutorial.
Besides, it's just plain dishonest to steal other people's ideas and claim them as your own.
I always try to give full credit to all the creative blogs and people who inspire me - you can see evidence of this all over my blog!
I only ask for the same curtsy in return.